It began when the founder and author of the materials, Mark Martinez, had his oldest child about to turn 13 years old. He recalled when he was that age how so much in his life changed, things that he was not fully prepared for. He desired to prepare his child for this life stage that she was about to enter into and, finding no other program that provided what he was looking for, he wrote it himself.

It's targeted for the 12-14 year old boy or girl and their parent, ideally the father. Children aged 11 or 15 may participate, based on the advice of the parent.

The key difference is the required involvement of the parent with their child. Unlike school, sports, and church youth programs where a child is dropped off and picked up, each parent participates alongside their child and has ample opportunities to share personal learnings and life lessons.

God did not give children to our teachers, coaches, or pastors to raise. He gave them to us, the parent. We have primary responsibility for teaching and raising them. Teaching and coaching from others should affirm the parent's authority, not take the place.

Generally speaking, a boy learns what it means to be a man based on what he sees modeled in his father. Likewise, a girl will tend to be drawn towards a potential mate based on the type of relationship she has with her father. While that is not always the case, it is generally true. A child at this life stage really needs the strong leadership of their father. This is no way diminishes the importance of the mother's role.

We recognize that the father is not always available, or the best option in a child's life. If the father or another strong male figure is not available to do the program with the child, the mother is more than welcome to lead her son or daughter through the program.

Stronger commitments to God, reliability in the Bible, trust in the parents, confidence in decision making, acceptance of self, clarity of life purpose. In other words, transformed lives. Please check out the testimonials on the website. You can see for yourself.

God has given your child to you and to nobody else. Your child is your blessing, and you are the only one that has the influence and authority over their life that is uniquely yours as a parent. Raising your child is not the responsibility of their peers, the schools, or even the church. It is yours. You have one shot to do your best. The CROP program gives you all the materials and step-by-step instructions to teach your child as God would have you.

Christianity models its worldview based on what is written in the Bible. The person who earnestly seeks to understand its writings, accept them, and desires to have a life-long journey to be more like Christ is the one who demonstrates obedience. The Bible is very clear on how we are to manage our relationship with God and with others. When we follow this life instruction, then life works. While a person does not have to be Christian to participate in any of the program resources, every aspect of the CROP program is written and taught from a Biblical worldview, without hesitation or apology. CROP recognizes and respects every person's right to choose their system of beliefs. One of the primary aims of CROP is to establish and maintain open communication between parent and child. Participants in any CROP program are welcome to discuss personal beliefs within their own family time and environment. CROP program time commitments are reserved for teaching from a Christian Biblical worldview.

Specific denominational doctrine and theology are not taught in CROP. That is left up to the parent. The core doctrine which permeates all CROP materials include: 1) God is creator of all things; 2) Jesus Christ is the redeemer of mankind; 3) The Bible is the full inspired word of God; 4) The Bible is man's handbook to life, and following its precepts is not burdensome and helps its followers to live an abundant life.

Forums are presented on dates and in communities based on the availability of host locations. A host location provides the venue, volunteer staff, A/V resources, and promotion. CROP provides promotional materials, registration, refreshments, lunch, and all handouts. Fill out the Contact Form for more information about hosting a Forum.

A Forum is an all-day event, 9 am – 4 pm. There are multiple Forums containing different material, so registration for additional Forums will be available at the conclusion of the first Forum.

Since a Forum does not have the same level of interaction, confidentiality, or depth of lessons, a co-ed environment is safe and effective.

Yes. A parent may participate with more than one child. The additional child must also be middle school aged. Child care is not available for non-participating children and may not remain with the parent/child during the Forum. Several object lessons take place during each Forum, which require the full attention of participating parent and child. There is an added charge for each additional child. No more than three children per parent/adult are allowed.

Yes. If both parents would like to participate with their one child, there is an added charge for the second parent.

CROP Ministries is confident in their programs. If the parent does not feel they received the value of the tuition, they may disengage at any time for a full refund. Only one refund allowed per family.

Requests for tuition scholarship can be made for families with need, and is based on availability of funds. CROP Ministries desires that no family will ever be withheld the opportunity to participate in our programs, and scholarship highly depends on the generosity of partners to the ministry to underwrite the scholarship program.

Absolutely! We know that God is always looking for people to invest His resources where His work is being accomplished. CROP Ministries is a fresh resource which is building and saving families for the Lord. All donations to CROP Ministries are fully tax deductible. (CROP Ministries is currently under the covering of Priority Living, a 501©3 non-profit corporation. All donations are payable to Priority Living, with the request that funds be allocated to CROP Ministries. CROP Ministries will be incorporated as its own non-profit at a later time.)

A scheduled time of 2 hours is set aside every week for the teaching. All the leader and student materials are provided, along with links to all the videos that are used throughout the program. Each Circle is gender specific, boys with boys and girls with girls.

Although the lessons can be taught one-on-one or in larger groups, the ideal size is in groups of 3-6 kids, along with their fathers. The father must attend all lessons, along with their child. This is not a drop off/pick up program. The reason why is that the father needs to be the primary teacher both during the program and between lessons. He can only do so if he knows exactly what is taught in each lesson. See explanation elsewhere on why any parent can accompany the child, but the father is the preferred choice if available.

There is a very strong dynamic when other parents participate in the teaching of a child. Oftentimes at this age, a child tends to "tune out" a parent. Teaching opportunities and discipline are received as "just another lecture". When a child hears similar/same principals being taught by another adult, a child tends to receive that teaching with a different ear, and it affirms the teaching and leading of their own parent. If more than 6 families participate, the CROP Circle gets too large and it inhibits opportunity for full participation by all students.

All that is needed is one parent willing to lead/facilitate the group, and to recruit a total of 3 to 6 families. That is, one child and one adult equals a single participating family.

All materials will be available to every person who wants to lead a circle. A leader's guide, answers to all student handouts, and instructional videos for every lesson will be provided to all leaders.

Each CROP Circle family makes a commitment to meet with the group for 2 hours per week, total of 8 weeks. Time and day of week is up to the leader/group to determine. At the completion of the first unit of 8 lessons, it's up to the group to determine if they would like to continue on for a second unit of 8 lessons/weeks. There are a total of 5 distinct units, each containing 8 unique lessons.

Each unit is set, and the lessons taught are organized so that they build off of each other. A Circle begins with Unit 1. If they desire to continue, they transition to Unit 2, etc. A Circle may select to do only Units 1, 2, and 3. Likewise, they can choose to do all 5 Units. However, they may not choose to do Units 1 and 4 only, as an example. The full program guideline on how to conduct a Graduation Celebration will be provided to CROP Circles who will be completing all 5 Units, along with special recognition for each graduate.

For the benefit and continuity of the group, it is recommended that not more than 2 meetings would be missed per 8 week Unit.

Requests for tuition scholarship can be made for families with need, and is based on availability of funds. CROP Ministries desires that no family will ever be withheld the opportunity to participate in our programs, and scholarship highly depends on the generosity of partners to the ministry to underwrite the scholarship program.

Absolutely! We know that God is always looking for people to invest His resources where His work is being accomplished. CROP Ministries is a fresh resource which is building and saving families for the Lord. All donations to CROP Ministries are fully tax deductible. (CROP Ministries is currently under the covering of Priority Living, a 501©3 non-profit corporation. All donations are payable to Priority Living, with the request that funds be allocated to CROP Ministries. CROP Ministries will be incorporated as its own non-profit at a later time.)

A monthly subscription can be purchased online or via e-mail request. Likewise, gift subscriptions can be purchased.

Yes. Gift subscription bundles can be purchased at a discount.

The CROP Report is available to those who have a purchased subscription. We encourage you to tell others about The CROP Report and have them subscribe themselves.

CROP Ministries welcomes suggestions for articles and topics. Both adults and students are welcome to contribute articles for The CROP Report, provided that they are either current or former participants in CROP Circles or CROP Forums.